b2b marketing posts, articles, and infographics

What B2B Marketers Can Learn from Lady Gaga

March 10, 2012 by Andrew Hunt
with 239 views

Now I know the title may sound cheesy, but there are actually some important lessons that many B2B marketers can learn from Lady Gaga. [read more]

B2B Marketing: Evolving or Stuck in the Mud?

March 9, 2012 by Ardath Albee
with 13 views

There are a few things bugging me that I'd like to air out. Over the last few months, I've seen and experienced some things that make me wonder if B2B marketing is evolving or stuck in the mud and applying old thinking that no longer works in a new context. Here are some examples: Marketing speakers who still lead with a 5 minute "About... [read more]

Why B2B Content Marketing Themes Fail

December 27, 2011 by Ardath Albee
with 20 views

Themes for B2B marketing programs are not a new concept. They're used to "organize" marketing programs and create a rallying cry around a market trend that will (hopefully) drive business momentum. The problem with themes in marketing, as I see it, is that they're used as temporary marketing constructs — generally for the term of a... [read more]

Frequency: All the Time vs. At the Right Time

November 14, 2011 by Ardath Albee
with 36 views

In the Focus roundtable I participated in last week with Lisa Horner, Lauren Goldstein and Craig Rosenberg, Lisa brought up the term "perpetual denamd gen." This concept is a paradigm shift for B2B marketers that can be a great opportunity or present fierce challenges — sometimes it's a combination of both. [read more]

B2B Marketers Need Big-Picture Thinking

May 18, 2010 by Ardath Albee
with 351 views

B2B Marketers are trying to learn how to use social media, content marketing, lead nurturing, personas and a host of other evolving means of attracting buyers through digital marketing. I'm all for it. I applaud your intentions. However, one of the things you need to do first is stop and think. It struck me today that there are so many... [read more]

Why Marketing and Sales Need an SLA

May 10, 2010 by Ardath Albee
with 461 views

The B2B marketing-to-sales process can be a long and complex process for your company—as well as your customers. Without agreement for who does what, when, managing the buying process behind the scenes can get messy, fast. Collaboration between marketing and sales teams to develop a Service Level Agreement (SLA) can help to smooth the... [read more]

The Rise of Content in B2B Marketing

April 21, 2010 by clickdocuments
with 403 views

Why should you quickly groom internal resources for content assets and blogging? How should you adapt to the changing trends in B2B marketing? We asked Galen De Young "What are key marketing trends and predictions for 2010? What actions should marketers take in 2010?". Galen De Young, managing director of Proteus B2B and Proteus... [read more]

Help B2B Buyers Find Their Place in The Story

March 29, 2010 by Ardath Albee
with 162 views

For years I've talked about writing content from the perspective of your buyers. I was reading an interview with David Willows over on Kathy Hansen's blog, A Storied Career, and came across an idea that can be very useful for helping B2B marketers think about why they need to develop marketing content for perspectives beyond just the... [read more]

Why a Blog Improves Social Media for B2B

March 25, 2010 by Ardath Albee
with 912 views

I presented during a webinar earlier this week and was a bit taken aback at the response to a poll taken during the session. When asked what type of social media the attendees participated in, they responded: 54% - Social Networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) 21% - Microblogging (Twitter) 7% - Blogging 11% - Groups,... [read more]

Marketing Content Must Reach Beyond Two-Way Dialogue

March 14, 2010 by Ardath Albee
with 172 views

The prevalent consensus about the evolution of B2B marketing is that we need to motivate two-way interactions. But I say that's stopping short. If you're only focused on designing your marketing content to make an isolated connection with a specific persona, you're not stretching your content strategy far enough. In a B2B... [read more]

Why Sales and Marketing Alignment is Like Golf

March 9, 2010 by Ardath Albee
with 220 views

Last night my husband and I watched our DVR recording of The Haney Project's new season featuring Ray Romano. In this series Ray Romano is seeking the help of golf coach Hank Haney to break through his lowest score to date of 80. I used to play a lot of golf. I was never great at it, but I love the game. While watching the... [read more]

The One Effective Use of Facebook for B2B Marketing

March 9, 2010 by Tom Pick
with 175 views

You’ve seen the eye-popping statistics: Facebook now has more than 350 million active users. If it were a country, it would be the third most-populous on earth, behind only China and India. TechCrunch predicts that “by this summer (2010) well over half of all Internet users will likely visit Facebook each month.” It’s now the second... [read more]